Yowza! It’s cold out here, people! I am not on board with this weather! I left behind snowy New York this week for the even-more-frozen tundras of Vermont. I am NOT excited about the cold, but I AM excited to finally show you my new jacket!

This is the Style Arc Romy Anorak pattern, and it’s my January project for the Mood Sewing Network. I’ve been working on this thing for what feels like the entirety of my life. OK, it was closer to 2.5 weeks, but between the RTW details, winging it and adding a lining, and attempting to decipher the illustration-less, minimalistic instructions, this one was a real marathon.

First things first: this pattern is super cool and I adore the style, but it’s NOT for the faint of heart. There’s absolutely no hand-holding here– the instructions offer helpful advice like “Make belt loops and attach them”. They don’t tell or show you how to do this, the pattern piece (one single long strip) doesn’t give you any details, and the placement markings for the side front belt loops aren’t on the pattern piece, so you have to measure/eyeball to figure out where they go. That’s pretty much par for the course here. This is at least an intermediate pattern– I would really only recommend it to a confident sewist who doesn’t mind figuring things out on her own. It didn’t help that I strayed from the instructions and added a lining. I had to completely change the order of operations to accommodate that, but it was worth it (unlined jackets are kind of pointless in my climate).

OK, some more pattern details: it has raglan sleeves with darts at the shoulder, which I haven’t seen before but is a nice detail. There are tucks right above the hem in front and back, and elastic is inserted in the hem so you can cinch it in if you like. The zipper is hidden behind a fly guard, which feels very RTW to me. If you’re not familiar with Style Arc, their patterns come in a single size. I wasn’t super stressed about this because I’m pretty close to a straight size and this isn’t a very fitted style. I made this without any alterations and the fit is roomy, but works for the style. If you make this yourself, check the zipper and button placement and make sure it works for you. I followed the diagrams for zipper and fly guard placement, but it feels backwards to me– when I try to button up the collar, it’s really awkward and hard to do.

ARRRRGGHHHHHH CAN’T GET BUTTON ASGSKOSDIFHGAJDKLFJKSJDGFXDKFLJDFK

While I’ve really been digging the trend of slouchy anoraks that all the cool Brooklyn babes seem to be wearing lately, I’m not super into the ubiquitous olive green that seems to be the only color these jackets come in. Instead I opted for a nice medium gray cotton twill. I love twill– it’s my go-to fabric for hard-wearing, good-looking garments. I love how it looks when it starts to show some wear and tear. Because twill weaves fray easily, I serged all the seams, even though they would be hidden under the lining. It’s a nice precaution to help extend the life of your jacket. I topstitched all the seams with a twin needle (OMG, WHY WAS I SO SCARED TO USE A TWIN NEEDLE?! It’s stupid easy!), which gives it a RTW look and also adds some stability.

You get the idea.

Since I’m the world’s biggest wimp, I added a lining made (mostly) from buffalo check flannel. It’s so warm and cozy! The sleeves are made out of black bemberg rayon– I get nervous that I’ll rip my lining putting on the jacket if the sleeves aren’t slippery! Since brushed fabrics have a tendency to pill over time, I made the lining with the unbrushed side of the flannel facing out. It’s still beautifully soft, but should stay in great condition longer. I basically made a second version of the shell and basted it to the neckline and center front before stitching on the collar and fly guard. I made a booboo when I was cutting it out and forgot to add a CB pleat in the lining, so after consulting the experts (the Twitter sewing crowd!) I cut a strip of fabric the length of the back bodice and stitched it in, so no harm no foul. The lining pieces were all cut at the hem line, so I just pressed the hems up over the lining, enclosing all the raw edges. I fell stitched the facings and inner collar down with about 488,135 teeny-tiny stitches… my finger and thumb are still sore!

The pattern calls for the pockets to be made with a box pleat that’s stitched down all the way. I wanted the pocket to expand to hold tons of stuff, so I used an inverted pleat that’s only stitched 2″ from the top and the bottom, so it can sort of bulge out. I find it annoying to iron under all the seam allowances when I’m making patch pockets, so I opted to line them instead. I cut a second pair of pockets out of the plaid flannel, stitched them together at the sides and bottom, then turned them right-side out, turned under the top seam allowance, and edge-stitched all around. This makes for nice, neat pockets, plus my hands will stay warm in happy flannel-lined pockets! We allllll know how much I love flannel-lined pockets! (Sidebar: Can someone please make sure my coffin is lined in flannel? Oops, got a little morbid there… but still– MAKE IT HAPPEN).

Moving on…

I wanted this to look very clean and RTW, so I used brushed antique nickel jeans buttons from Taylor Tailor that I had in my stash, a matching separating zipper, and two faux metal toggles at the CF hem. I’m really pleased with the way they look! Oh, and if you want to get in on the jeans button fun but aren’t sure where to start, here’s a great tutorial from Taylor’s blog (spoiler alert: you get to use a hammer! In the end I discarded the belt loop pattern piece and just followed this great tutorial from the Coletterie— you don’t have any raw edges, and you don’t have to turn a loop!

In the end, I’m over the moon about this jacket! It’s just exactly my style! Isn’t that the best thing about sewing? It took forever to make, and even though the pattern was frustrating, it’s so rewarding to sew something that you can actually get away with wearing day in and day out, and that you’ll love wearing all the time! While I’m thinking about it, if you want some serious jacket inspiration (and envy!), check out Kelly’s gorgeous Minoru! It’s stunning!

What are you guys sewing these days? Are you sewing for the season, or jumping ahead to the next one? As much as I dislike winter, I’ve still got some cold weather items on the docket to sew before spring sets in. What about you?

Had to say again that this is just my absolute most favorite thing ever! All the details!! ALLL THE DETAILS!! Killing me. And it does look like it’s keeping you pretty snuggly in all that snow! (P.S. It looks soooooo coooold there!!!) And good to know about those style arc patterns – I’m definitely considering buying that biker jacket because it’s pretty much my dream jacket, but I am a little nervous about the lack of hand holding! Ha!

this is fantastic!!! so loving all the details. and i know exactly how consuming and frustrating a coat like this is, since i made a similar burda coat for my daughter. oh how i wanted to give up when it was 90% finished… stay warm!

Wow, it looks so, so good. The stitching and detailing look super professional and I love the warm flannel lining. I am very impressed with your skills ! I am still sewing wintry things, trying to finish up those UFOs before spring sewing! x

You are so adorable, I love your photos! The jacket looks amazing, and I bet it’s super warm and snuggly (that snow looks so charming for me in my snowless climate). And what a beautifully made garment too! I bet you are so proud – have fun telling the hipster Brooklyn girls that you MADE your jacket, haha!

I love it so much! And thanks for the shout out 😉 To be honest your jacket looks more like what I had in mind when I started mine, and jeans buttons- genius! I really like your pockets too. I hear you on the 2.5 weeks, that’s about how long mine took and it felt like forrrrreevvvveerrrr! I really just wanted to get done and make an Archer, haha. I am in the midst of making a bunch of Plantain tees, and then some kids clothes for my daughters next week, and then it’s back into coat making with the Republique du Chiffon Gerard.

I LOVE that Gerard pattern– can’t wait to see yours! I have a feeling it would look terrible on me, but I’m really looking forward to seeing more versions made up so I can be even more tempted to try it out, haha!

Your jacket is amazing! I’m currently sewing one as well and coats and jackets do take a long time (promised myself a quick project after this one :-)) I love all the details and the lining. In my opinion, your project was worthy of all your efforts!

Totally amazing! I love all your choices with this, the lining, the buttons and toggles. It looks like so many jackets I’ve seen around recently only better! I’ve been eyeing up a few Style Arc patterns recently so it’s good to see one made up and hear about your sewing experience with it, might start with an easy one!

Holy moley!! This is the best jacket I’ve ever seen! It looks lovely on you, and I totally agree with the flannel lining – what use is a coat with no lining?! I also love the big patch pockets, it all looks so brilliant. Your photos in the snow are lovely, although I do appreciate just how utterly pants snow is. Hope it thaws soon, and the temperature rises!

GORGEOUS!! This jacket is absolutely superb, you did a fantastic job! Somehow StyleArc has been off my radar, but I just ordered a couple dresses last weekend. I can only hope they turn out as RTW perfect as your jacket!

Sewing works on such a different timeframe than knitting, although you’re the fastest knitter around! I’m struggling to motivate myself to finish a cardigan– I was powering through it, but now I have a sleeve and a half to go and I can’t seem to work up the excitement to finish it!

My goodness Sonja, you did such an AMAZING job with this jacket. It looks perfect and all the extra details make it such a class act. Thanks for the tip about the lack of instructions: being the hand-holding type I will probably stay clear of this pattern but will happily live vicariously through your make. You did such a great job!

Thank you, Andrea! Luckily there are oodles of patterns with amazing instructions. I probably would’ve gone for the Sewaholic Minoru if the measurements were closer to mine, but since I fall between 5 sizes (!) I thought it would be more fun to try this one out. 😉

Wow how did I miss not seeing this beauty on your blog! I really love grey, such a good neutral choice! I love all of the details that you added! The lining looks so cozy!I really do have to try a twin needle! I do have jeans making on my vague in the future to make list. Stay warm!!

Clap clap clap! This is amazing! Coats seem to take forever but they’re so worth it especially when it’s your style and you know you’ll wear this over and over! (I get stuck trying to pick one because there are so many great coat patterns.) Great fabric choices, too.

Wow! Your coat is amazing. I can see why it took you so long to complete. I recently tried using a twin needle again after being scared off a super long time ago. And it was easy! I don’t know why I’d been so scared! Great coat!